ASUU Strike: Banks, Aviation Unions Threaten to Shut Down Operations in Support of ASUU

Airport closures have been threatened by the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) in support of the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities. 

This occurred at the same time that the National Union of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) announced it would shut down all financial institutions in solidarity with the NLC. 

The NLC strike was in response to the ongoing ASUU strike. Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) ordered its members to participate in a national protest in support of ASUU on July 26 and 27. 

In a statement, Abdulrasaq Saidu, the general secretary of the ANAP, urged the federal government to immediately put an end to the strike.

He said the protracted strike had led to an increase in social vices by students and ridiculed Nigeria’s educational system, making it a laughing stock. 

"ASUU, NASU, SAUTHRIAI, NAAT had been on strike for more than four months due to the apparent failure of government to sign the re-negotiated 2009 agreement with ASUU, failure to honour the terms reached at in the May 2022 MoU signed with ASUU, and habitual failure of government to respect collective bargaining agreements willingly signed with labour unions. 

"Our children are using eight years to read courses of four years with resources being wasted. We cannot continue this way."

In a similar vein, Anthony Abakpa, the national president of NUBIFIE, and Mohammed Sheikh, the general secretary, declared in a statement that "if nothing is done after the one-day NLC protest on this issue, the union will have no choice but to call out all our members in banks, insurance, and other financial institutions in solidarity with ASUU." 

The federal government's unwillingness to uphold the agreement reached with the union since 2009, according to a statement from NAAPE's deputy general secretary Umoh Ofonime, is also "extremely alarming considering the harmful impact the protracted strike will make on these children's lives."